PH's task of restoring public confidence

The PH administration must boost its operational efficiency and deepen reforms in order to win back the hearts of voters.

Sin Chew Daily

Pakatan Harapan will usher in its firs full year in office next Thursday.

Some media organizations have started their polls and the performance of the PH administration in its first year will soon be unveiled.

The Merdeka Center was the first to publish its outcome, showing that the approval rate of Pm Mahathir and PH had plummeted drastically.

According to Merdeka Center, Mahathir's approval rating plunged from 71% last August to 46% while PH's approval rating was a mere 39%.

As for Malaysians' satisfaction with the government, the rating slipped from 60% last August to 40% this March.

Additionally, only 34% of respondents said they believed the country was moving on the right track.

Although the survey could not completely reflect the reality, to a certain extent it nevertheless reflected how the public were thinking of the government.

As a matter of fact, even the most die-hard fans of PH have to admit that the ruling coalition's public acceptance has dropped.

PH took over the government amidst the thunderous applause of Malaysians, showing that the public indeed had very high expectations for it. Unfortunately PH has not performed up to the mark over the past one year and has instead triggered much frustration among the people.

The PM's approval rating drop from 71% to 46% has been phenomenal, while Malaysians' satisfaction with the government has slid to an even lower level of 40%. This should sound an alarm bell that the government cannot afford to overlook.

There are a few reasons to explain the southward trend of PH's approval rating.

The economic climate has yet to improve, and Malaysians continue to live under tremendous economic pressure.

Although PH lifted the GST and replaced it with SST, goods prices have continued to trend upward, increasing further the financial burden of the people.

Sure enough the government has introduced several measures to lighten the people's burden such as ceiling price for RON95, many still feel the smothering burden upon their shoulders.

On top of that, the PH government has made frequent U-turns in its policies and has failed to honor its election promises.

Some of the cabinet ministers have performed badly, and the poor administrative efficiency of the government have all taken a heavy toll on PH's overall image.

Even though many of the minsters are in their positions for the first time and may indeed need time to adapt, their failure to perform after so many months is anything but convincing.

The urgent task for PH now is to conduct an introspection, boost its operational efficiency and deepen reforms in order to win back the hearts of voters.

Where winning back the trust of rakyat is concerned, PH must choose the right path.

It is a reality that Umno has teamed up with PAS and the two parties are bound to move down the religious and racist path.

PH should remember that it has won the mandate of a multiracial electorate and should therefore stay away from competing with Umno/PAS in religious/racist agenda.

In its stead, PH must push ahead its economic agenda and preserve the rights of all Malaysians hailing from very different backgrounds in winning over the voters.